The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Russia-Bangladesh Business Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand bilateral trade, attract investment and strengthen economic cooperation between Bangladesh and Russia.

The agreement was signed at the FBCCI office in Motijheel during a Bangladesh-Russia Business Dialogue, according to an FBCCI press release.

The MoU is expected to facilitate greater engagement between businesses of the two countries by creating a favourable environment for trade and investment and promoting the exchange of information on business opportunities.

As part of the agreement, the two sides will collaborate on joint projects involving companies from Bangladesh and Russia. They will also organise trade fairs, exhibitions, business missions and investment forums to explore new opportunities for commercial cooperation.

The dialogue was jointly organised by the FBCCI and the Russia-Bangladesh Business Council, with FBCCI Administrator Md Fazlul Hoque in the chair.

Speaking at the event, Fazlul Hoque said the changing global economic landscape had opened up significant opportunities for Bangladesh and Russia to expand their trade relations.

He noted that there were no major barriers to trade and investment between the two countries, although existing minor obstacles needed to be identified and resolved through joint efforts.

Head of the Russian delegation Ilya Shestakov said Bangladesh was one of Russia’s leading trading partners in South Asia in terms of trade volume.

He expressed Russia’s interest in increasing supplies of agricultural products, food items and fertilisers to Bangladesh.

He also identified energy, information technology, cybersecurity and e-governance as potential areas for expanding bilateral cooperation.

However, Shestakov stressed the need to establish sustainable payment infrastructure between the two countries to facilitate trade transactions and unlock their full commercial potential.

Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Grigoryevich Khozin called for stronger bilateral relations and deeper economic cooperation.

He emphasised the need to remove trade and investment barriers, simplify regulatory procedures, improve logistics facilities and ensure better market access to increase business engagement.

The ambassador also highlighted education and human resource development as important areas of cooperation alongside trade and investment.

Business leaders and members of the FBCCI General Council attended the dialogue.